Memories
by Writingaddict2
Summary: A secret project, an army of mutants, and only the x-men can navigate them through hell. Welcome to Project Enigma
1. Chapter 1

My name used to be Chassidy, though most of the people in this hell hole call me Enigma-37, The Devil Enigma. I used to be as human as Moira, now I'm just as much a mutant as Charles himself. Though if I remember correctly, the proper word for it would be mutate. I was the thirty-seventh person they subjected to this horrible procedure hence the 37 tacked onto the end of my name. If you're wondering what this process was, patience, I'm getting there. As far as I know, it's sometime in 1963; they never let me near a calendar so I can't be much more specific than that.

I was born June 1st 1946, to a wonderful family who loved me and I was happy, more or less. I was diagnosed with depression when I was six, ADHD shortly after, and insomnia when I was fourteen. Unlike my siblings, I am the only one who doesn't look like mom or dad. I have, ever changing, grey-green eyes, red hair (I will admit I used to dye it, but now that I can create illusions, I don't need to waste my money), and skin so pale I make Charles look tan. I am roughly 5'6" and I love to read, write, and learn. According to what my teachers have said in the past I am a fast learner and a logical thinker (most of the time).

Sounds good right? Its about to get real bad real fast. Three months after my sixteenth birthday, I was kidnapped at my school's bus stop. One minute I'm about to get on the bus the next I'm strapped to a table and screaming my head off because there is a gigantic needle coming towards me. I, as to be expected, passed out and when I woke up again I had wings and could read every mind in the sprawling facility.

The mad woman responsible for my sudden mutation is named Nyx. She doesn't know that I am writing this and if she did she would probably kill me. She already tortures me with adamantium every time I fail a mission. I was told that to make me a mutate, they bombarded my DNA sequence with the genes of another mutant and I inherited a severe allergy to the metal known as adamantium. If you took a close look at my wings, though the feathers cover them pretty well, you would see what looks like acid burns all over them. Strip me down to my delicates and you would see burns that would make even Erik Lehnsherr cringe.

I didn't learn this until much later, but I think you'll find it useful: Project Enigma is an offshoot of a government funded super soldier program. Originally Project Enigma had full government funding due to support from people like William Stryker. When the government found out just how they were making these super soldiers, they backed out and cut all ties with Nyx and anything that carried her name. We had been her life's work and now everything was slipping out from under her. Having been driven off the edge she decided to subject herself to the treatment, becoming that which she hated — a mutant. A few weeks after the first procedure, her mutation appeared; she was a telepath and an empath. The latter of which was already in her genetic code, dormant until she decided to play God. Being unable to fully control her gifts, she went completely mad becoming sadistic with her experiments and her methods of capture.

This was the Project Enigma that had captured me, mutated me, and sold me to the highest bidder as a mercenary or whatever they needed at the time. If I, or whichever Enigma they had chosen, didn't carry out our orders to their liking they could just send us back and they would receive their full refund a few days or weeks later. For our insubordination, we would be locked in isolation where Nyx would reprogram us to do as we were told without question. Eventually we all became exactly what she wanted; monsters. What she doesn't know is that we have figured a way out, the only thing we need now is a distraction big enough to turn the facility into a circus.

I need to get out of here. I don't want to be afraid every time I hear footsteps coming down the hall anymore. I don't want to fear for my life every single minute of every single day. Please help me.

All I know about my location is that it's somewhere near Muir island, if my knowledge of accents is correct anyway. I'm pretty sure the facility is underground because I've scanned every unfamiliar mind that goes by and they never seem to see a gigantic building. What I _have_ seen though, is the door to an old underground bomb shelter. If you need anymore information to find me I'll do my best, but please come and get me and my friends out of here before Nyx kills all of us. I want to live to be eighteen.


	2. Chapter 2

Like the shards of a broken mirror they surround her, the memories of both of her lives. One is warm and inviting, the other cold and forbidding. Enigma-37 shudders as she touches the closest shard, it shatters into a cloud of silver revealing the scene within.  
-

She never wanted to be here, never wanted any of this, yet here she is. She looks at the soldier to her left: it's Danielle, she is saying the Lord's prayer before they drop in Germany, the place where she was born and raised.

"It'll be over soon," 37 says placing a comforting hand on her friend's shoulder attempting to soothe her guilty conscience. Danielle looks up with blue eyes that are ages older than their owner and simply shakes her head. One singular tear streaks down her face, the first one in ages.

"It vill never be over," Danielle says shaking her head.

After a beat of silence, the signal to drop is given. All of the Enigmas cross themselves before diving into the pitch black winter night.

The mission objective is simple: get in, get the supplies and get the hell out before you get caught. Unfortunately that was on paper and this is the real world.

A loud klaxon sounds leaving the Enigmas no choice but to fight their way out. As usual Danielle led the team back to the copter, while Enigma-37 made sure no one followed. "First one in, last one out" was her mantra, it helped her stay sane when she felt the terror of the soldiers as they perished. Finally after twenty minutes of killing it is over.

There were only three survivors, all of them were male, under the age of twenty-three, and had been recently married.

Nyx was not pleased; their orders had been to leave none alive. They were punished severely for their insubordination.  
-

Enigma-37 was dragged out of her memories by a very worried Charles Xavier.

"What was that?" he asked, checking her pulse.

"What was what?" she replied, cocking her head like a confused puppy.

"Look at your hand," he ordered.

She nodded and held up her hand, there was nothing wrong with it at all save one thing: her hand was twitching uncontrollably. This meant only one thing, she was mutating again and this one was going to hurt- a lot.

"I-I h-ha-have to g-go," she said panicking. She made to get up but never did; the world exploded around her in a flash of light and all went quiet.  
-

Enigma opened her eyes expecting to be in the hospital wing instead the looming shadow over her told her she was back in hell. Back to missions, and Nyx, and tests, and torture, back to Project Enigma but this time there was no escaping. Charles wasn't going to come to her rescue, she would die there alone and forgotten

"Did you honestly think anyone would come to rescue you? You've been here the entire time Enigma, the rescue was a fabrication of your own mind! You are a freak of nature, a monster, and a weapon," Nyx shouted smiling as Enigma-37 tried to hold back her tears and her tongue.

"Sorry Nyx but I'm afraid that I'll have to ask for my sister back," Charles said finally coming out of the shadows, "Come on Cass, let's go home."

Charles broke her chains like they were tissue paper and then helped her to her feet.

"How?" Enigma asked confused about how he got there.

"That Nyx was something your mind had created when you passed out, it needed a way to explain why you were in so much pain. Nyx had been a source of extreme pain for you for over a year so it's not surprising that it created this scenario," Charles explained.

Charles opened his mouth again but no words came out. _Time to wake up,_ said a voice in the back of her head.  
-

Enigma awoke to Charles sleeping next to her bed. She silently got up and began pushing his wheelchair to his room.

It amazed her that even though she had been free of the project for over a year Nyx still came back to haunt her.

"Thank you — brother," she whispered in his ear as she tucked him in. She knew that at last she had found a place for all of her men to safely live. The tricky part was getting all of them here.


	3. Chapter 3

As Enigma staggered back into the ward she realised that the mutation, and carting Charles off to bed for some much needed rest, had taken a lot more out of her than it usually did. This terrified her because she knew that as her expiration date grew closer and closer the more the mutation process itself would drain her until it finally killed her. This also meant that her powers would grow more unpredictable and more dangerous. She didn't want to have to live knowing that she had hurt Hank, or Charles or any one of her friends for that matter. She wanted to live and she wanted to do it right this time.

On a random note she half wondered what her mutation was (it didn't really matter to her but it was nice to know).

Enigma fell asleep rather quickly. Fearing what her dreams may bring Enigma-37 decided to descend down the staircase that led to her vault of memories. She shattered the shard that contained her lover and braced herself for the pain.  
-

Enigma never expected to find her match in what should have been out of one of her science fiction novels, yet she did. Erik (known to Project Enigma as Failed Attempt 1) was roughly 6 feet 6 inches tall with brown eyes that, unfortunately, saw nothing. An unfortunate result of the torture, or "experimentation" as the scientists liked to put it, they had to endure.

"Do you love me Erik Lensherr?" she whispered in his ear one night.

A simple kiss was his response. She kissed his chest and then threaded her arms underneath his shirt. He made no objection so she continued, before either one of them could object they were undressed, and bearing their souls to each other. She opened her mind completely to him just as he opened his mind to her, she learned of his pains and fears, hopes and dreams. She learned of his early life spent in a cage, shivering and wondering when he was going to die. She learned of his mutation, the ability to see using metal though quite how it worked he didn't know. Though she was very reluctant she showed him her past. Her happy little family, and their house with a dog and a yard, her school where she never quite fit in, her friends whom she missed so dearly. They bared their all to each other.

Normally she would have waited for him to ask her for her hand before giving herself away, but in this life there was no such thing as waiting.

"I love you Chassidy Baliegh Leeves," Erik whispered in her ear when they finished, kissing the top of her head.  
-

She woke up with tears in her eyes in the present.

"Erik," She whispered into the dark, "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry."

She cried herself back to a troubled dreamless sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Enigma-37 woke up with a tingling pain that radiated throughout her entire frame. It was by this familiar pain that she knew the mutation process was finally complete. She felt an unusual pressure on her upper and lower lip. A quick once over with her tongue revealed that her canines now resembled that of an animal**,** they were now long and tapered to a fine point. This particular mutation she could learn to live with, she propped herself up on the bed and went to feel for her feathery security blankets but a flash of indigo stopped her in her tracks. She brought her hands to eye level and began to weep; she could no longer hide what she was. The last vestige of visible humanity she had left was now gone, as her wings and indigo skin bore silent testament.

When she finally regained composure several minutes later Enigma went to see what was edible in the kitchen, something she usually did after she cried this hard.

* * *

She rounded the corner to enjoy her apple in the quiet sunlit sitting room, and she quickly realised that this wouldn't be possible. Charles and Erik were arguing**-**again-but this was different. Erik had that predatory look in his eyes that terrified her to no end while Charles was shouting about how going back would be insanity.

Erik quickly countered "We could use more people, after all this is a school, and if they are anything like Cass was when she first came in; they will need all the help they can get."

"True but who's to say that Nyx hasn't already murdered them for treason? From the description we have of her, that is the more likely outcome, " Charles rebutted.

Erik nodded and then quietly said, "She iis/i me and I know for a fact that she will not rest until she burns their murderer and buries their ashes with her own hands."

Charles nodded and agreed to put together a recon team. However by that point 37 was already half way to the garage. She abandoned them once, and she would not abandon her team again, "family is family and we protect our family no matter what" was what she had always said and she wasn't about to be called a hypocrite-even if it killed her.

* * *

Hank never really paid much attention to the outside world when he was working, especially if he was working on something important. That being said, it was little surprise that when Azazel ported in right behind him, hejumped. This wouldn't have been too much of a problem had Hank not been working on the serum which, in theory, would allow Charles to walk again.

"Hello Azazel," Hank said, rubbing his temples to alleviate the oncoming tension headache.

"The girl is missing," Azazel said,in a thick Russian accent.

Hank's heart dropped into his size twenty three shoes.

"She's what?" he said, prayinghe'd heard the man wrong.

"The angel girl is missing. I go to check on her, and she is gone.**"** This was probably the first time that Hank had ever seen Azazel worried about anyone or anything.

"You shouldn't worry too much, she's probably out flying," Hank said, trying to sound calm and relaxed, but failing miserably.

"Nyet, I already checked, she is nowhere. I worry what trouble might have found her," Azazel said shaking his head. He looked at Hank and smirked, "You find it strange I care about someone? No?"

Hank smiled sheepishly and nodded. Azazel laughed, which scared poor Hank half to death, and smiled. He gave Hank a look that let him know that he was forgiven before the infraction occurred.

"I respect her and her comerades very much. Shaw took us to the Project Enigma base you rescued her from. He was looking for more like first Enigma they brought out was numbered 27. She was not pleased to be there; she spat at us and told us to go to hell. I will admit I laughed; she reached for her knife but our angel girl was brought in. She told 27 to 'put it down and apologise' to both Emma and I. 27 did as she was told, going2 back into the shadows. It was then that our angel turned to me and mind spoke:We are the same; we kill because we must, not because we want to. She knew what I have done but did not care as long as her comerades were kept safe. I do not understand all she does but I will fight with her."

Hank was surprised and grateful for the insight into Azazel's head; it somehow made him a little less scary. But only a little.

"We should tell Charles. He'll-"

"NYET! He is too much of a coward and it is his fault she is gone," Azazel replied angrily, a dangerous fire lighting up his eyes.

"How do you know?" Hank asked defensively.

"Comerades Erik and Charles were arguing over going back for the rest of Enigma. She overheard this and left. I thought she went out, when I checked on her she was gone," Azazel said in a mix of anger, regret, and possibly concern.

Hank opened his mouth to speak but was silenced by Charles calling everyone to the library.

* * *

Hank and Azazel were the last to arrive. There was a girl pacing in front of the wary assembly. She was like a hurricane: beautiful and terrible all at the same time. She had jet black hair that was cropped short and spiky so as to keep it from her eyes, she also had sapphire blue eyes that were perfect except for the left, which had a jagged scar that ran down clear to her mouth. Even with her scars it was easy to see that her parents had likely been very aesthetically pleasing.

She motioned towards the assembly and asked, "Is this all of them?"

Charles nodded and she said one simple sentence: "I know where Enigma is."

She might have been small but it did not matter; she could still hold the room in rapt attention. She took a quick look around the room and began motioning for people to come forward. By the time she was done the only ones left were Hank and Charles.

"I will also need some sort of connection to here," the girl said, her German accent now more apparent than before.

Charles was slightly confused until Erik picked up the dustiest book on the shelf and took its bookmark out asking, "Will this work?"

"Ja, Vielen Dank," she took the bookmark and stuffed it into her shirt then turned to the team assembled behind her, "My name is Danielle. If you want to get Chassidy back you will need my help and you will need to do everything that I tell you todo without question, understood?"

The team nodded and Danielle began assigning jobs.

"Azazel I'll need you to clear a not kill, just injure. We'll need them alive to be able to find Nyx. Sean, I'll need you with me; your screeching will be useful once we get into cell block D. Erik you will also be with me. Mystique you go with Azazel, if you happen to capture a soldier who is willing to sell her out, try get them to lead you as close to Nyx's office as you can get them to. Angel, you will also go with Azazel; use your fireballs to melt the door off its hinges. Everyone else will be assigned upon landing, seeing as not all of the Enigma's could fit in the copter," Danielle lookedat everyone in the eye to make sure they knew their orders.

"Be careful Dani, you never know what you'll meet out there," Charles said praying he wasn't becoming precognitive.

* * *

"Our father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Amen," Danielle said as the copter took off, "And Lord, please let us find her in time."

Danielle then crossed herself, leaving the team in utter silence.


	5. Chapter 5

"T minus two minutes and counting until landing!" Danielle said in an attempt to break the overwhelming silence. Unfortunately it didn't work, no one even thought about talking until they landed, seeing as several of them were air sick.

"Do you think we can trust her?" Sean Cassidy, better known as Banshee, asked Erik motioning in the direction of their pilot.

Erik nodded and said, "I think so. I've seen how someone under the influence of Nyx acts and she bears none of the symptoms: she's alert, coherent, and shows absolutely no signs of aggression aimed at us. The only thing I worry about is the fact that-"

"I'm German," Danielle finished, turning to look Erik in the eye. The jagged scar that ran down her left eye made her very imposing even though she wasn't trying to be.

"That's not what I was going to say!" Erik said defensively.

"I don't know if you still believe in God or not, but you and I both know lying is a sin," Danielle replied sounding rather hurt.

"I am not lying!" Erik knew he was lying, but he was hoping that she would quit before she brought up his "childhood"**— **for lack of a better word**— **for all to see.

"We both know that you hate the Germans for what we did to your family and friends. I do want to tell you one little thing though: I am not a Nazi, yes I am German but that does not make me a Nazi. My father was a French Jew and my mother was an 'Aryan'" Danielle spat out the word like it was poison.** "**We lived in constant fear of being found by the Nazi's, especiallyconsidering we lived in Munich. In the short time I was with them, theytaught me to love regardless of what someone believes or is. If you want to call me a Nazi go ahead but know this; I will not be paying the costs for your funeral."

Erik looked at the ground for a moment and whispered, "I'm still keeping an eye on you."

Danielle smiled. "Apology accepted. Come on they're waiting for us."

After about five minutes of awkward silence, they arrived at the campsite. They were greeted by a rather mismatched assortment of people; there was a girl with snow white hair, another that was Erik, save the fact that his eyes were milky white and saw nothing, and then a man who was neither skinny nor stocky, tall nor short, basically as forgettable as could be.

Danielle turned to face the x-men, "Going from left to right we have Sarah, Erik the clone, and Sarah's husband, Frankie. They will be going with us. If I am not present or dead you listen to their orders, or I will find you and kill you myself."

"I hate to sound like a brat but, when are we going to save Enigma?" Sean asked, bravely stepping out of the safety of his teammates.

"We're going tomorrow after dark, you have my word," Erik's clone answered.

The x-men nodded and let Sarah lead them off to their bunk assignments.

* * *

The guards took turns raping her, and torturing her, daring each other to see how far they could go before something snapped. The only reason why the game had ended was that one of them got too excited and slashed her eye nearly blinding her, and a blind Enigma was useless.  
_  
Twenty-seven was her name then; Death would do just fine now, _and with that thought she returned her gun to its holster and went to sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

As the adamantium knife sliced into her skin Enigma-37 clenched her teeth bracing herself for the excruciating pain that would surely follow . It took almost all of her strength to silently endure the torture and stay conscious.**  
**  
"Where are they?" Nyx asked, now very irritated at 37's stoicism. She lifted the knife but didn't bring it down; she was picking her next area wisely.

"I don't know!" Enigma said, for what seemed like the millionth time, iand even if I did I wouldn't tell you where they were./i She said silently to herself.

"Then find them!" Nyx growled, as she brought the knife down on 37's inner thigh, letting it sink into the muscle.

Enigma's blood-curdling scream reverberated off of the walls, nearly deafening everyone in the stone chamber.

Nyx was the first to recover and with a malicious glint in her eyes, she slashed her prey from its right shoulder to its left inner hip. She dug the knife into the soft, sensitive flesh, laughing as Enigma shifted spastically from the pain for a few moments, before finally, and quite blessedly, passing out.

* * *

****By Sean's count, it had been two whole days since they had arrived at the make shift camp and had been promised that at morning light, their friend would be rescued. Since then nothing more had been said about it.

Sean was getting restless and the Irish gentleman in him wanted blood for what they had done to Enigma. At one point in time hehad brought it up, but everyone looked at him like he was insane, or worse, they had no clue who he was talking about. He began to wonder what happened to everyone, how icould/i they just forget her? After all they had traveled across the Atlantic to Muir Island just to retrieve the girl who pleaded with them to rescue her.

All in all, Sean found this very unsettling.

* * *

"I told you I could get her to do anything," Nyx said coolly, watching the mutant known as "Banshee" thrash about in his restraints.

"Yes, yes you did, but you also said that no one could ever catch you by surprise," her old friend and mentor William Stryker said, clearly referring to the incident at Muir Island.

"That was a mistake!" Nyx snapped.

"Who's to say you won't make that mistake again? Remember, if you fail _all_ funding will be withdrawn, and I will deny having ever dealt with you should you try to bring me into this." And with those heartening words, heleft the room, leaving Nyx to go play with the flies in her web.


	7. Chapter 7

In the weeks since Danielle had left with the X-men, Charles had been growing increasingly restless. By now he had taken to "pacing" in the library, praying to a god he didn't believe in. He had never felt so powerless in his entire life, he had never hated himself so much before. Erik and the others had entrusted their lives to him and he let them go off on a potentially, very probably,dangerous mission. Andfor what? Enigma was likely dead already anyway. Asmuch as he cared forthe girl, he wasn't quite willing to let his men die for her — at least not yet. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. Theangrier he became, the louder the small voice in the back of his head protested, until finally, the voice won out.

_'What am I saying?'_ heasked himself, shaking his head and trying not to cry out of sheer frustration.

"Professor?" Hank whispered.

"Yes?" Charles replied, turning his chair to face him.

"I think I might have a way to contact them-" he began.

"That's excellent!" Charles said.

"You don't understand. It's-" Hank said, trying to get Charles to come back to earth for a moment.

"I'll take full responsibility. Now, where is it?" Charles soundedlike someone who had lost all hope, and whowas now grasping at whatever came close enough for him to reach.

"Charles! I can't let you test it just yet!" Hank snapped.

"Then why mention it at all?" Charles asked brokenly.

"Because I thought it would get you to sleep again! I haven't seen you leave this office since they left!" Hank shouted, tears stinging the corners of his eyes. "Enigma wouldn't want this, Raven wouldn't want this, and I sure as hell know Magneto wouldn't want you like this! Charles, please, do _something_ – throw a book at me, for all I care. Just do something other than stay in here like a recluse!"

He opened his mouth to tell Hank off, but the more he replayed the statement in his head, the more he began to agree.

"Hank, would you like some tea?" Charles asked.

"Yes," Hank said, now relieved, and smiled softly, "yes, I would."

He wheeled his chair to the door, and for the first time in weeks, left the comfort and safety of his office.

"How do you take yours, Hank?" he asked over his shoulder. He waited for a response, but there was none. This was a bit worrisome as Hank always replied promptly when asked a question.

"Hank?" Charles called. He turned and - jerked awake. Apparently, he had fallen asleep at his desk for the fourth night in a row. He rubbed his temples and hoped against hope that his friends were all right.

A soft knock at the door brought him back to the present.

"Come in, McCoy," he sighed.

"I'm sorry to bother you, professor, but I think I found them." Hank grinned.

"Where are they?" Heinstantly perked up.

"Somewhere in the black forest. I can't tell you much more than that at the moment, but-"

"Excellent! Is the jet ready?" Charles asked, wheeling over to where Hank was.

"Yes," Hank replied, more than a little confused.

"Good, because we're going on a bit of a trip." Charles smiled.He thought to himself,_ 'And this time, I won't let them go.'_


End file.
